


Togetherness

by celestialshimmer



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, Nonbinary Character, Other, Quick warning: discussion of transphobia and transmisogyny, the experiences of the nonbinary character are addressed quite a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 00:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7131344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialshimmer/pseuds/celestialshimmer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer has arrived, and Herc and Laf spend a day at the beach together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Togetherness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stonerjohnlaurens](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonerjohnlaurens/gifts).



> This is a (belated) birthday present for wholiveswhodieswhomakesitoutalive/vic! I'm sorry it's so late, and happy birthday :)
> 
> Also just a few notes! While it's a completely different verse, my Herc and Laf are based off of @angischuyler's tstbs backstories, and so while it's modern AU, things are different etc, some are the same! For instance Laf is Ivoirian and like the Laf in her fics, etc.
> 
> Also, I personally headcanon Herc as trans but I couldn't decide how to include that in here! I love him as agender, a trans guy, as nonbinary but masc-aligned, etc. Too many different options. Vic couldn't help me decide either, so at least in this fic Laf is the only explicitly trans one but remember friends, tokenism of nonbinary people or something isn't good representation! It sucks! Respect us and do it right!  
> Anyways, I'll step off my soapbox and let you read the fic now.

Lafayette never shaved their legs. The rejection of societal standards that was gradually becoming an acceptable rebellion from cisgender women (particularly the conventionally attractive ones) was an utterly different story for anyone who was transfeminine like they were. It gave cissexists another bullshit reason to invalidate their gender, as if they would be affirmed in their identity even if they conformed fully to the idealized standards of womanhood. Laf didn't even want to present in a feminine way all of the time, but when they did they were going to do it their own way.

While they got an infuriating amount of shit for this, Laf still did their best to remain happy in who they were. And it helped enormously when they did get affirmation, especially from their amazing boyfriend. Herc couldn’t possibly be any more supportive and encouraging than he already was to them, and while Laf saw this in their life in a million different ways, they saw it right now in a way that felt like the absolute best. While he packed a lunch basket for them with all of the picnic essentials, Laf was getting dressed for their beach trip.

They tried their best to not be self conscious of their bare unshaved legs, and instead focused on the beautiful sundress Herc had altered for them. The bright turquoise dress had a wide crewneck collar and drop waist, but as perfect it looked at the store, no size would fit them right. Herc had spent a few hours with pins in his mouth and messing with patterns to find out the best way to adapt it to Laf's body and still keep the design the way that it had caught their eye. He did this regularly for them, any time he asked. Laf's favorite part of Herc tailoring their clothes was he had done it enough that he didn't need to take their measurements anymore because he knew them all so well.

Once they had slipped on the dress over their swimsuit, Laf headed over to the kitchen and rested their head against Herc's back. He startled a little bit, but relaxed as they wrapped their arms around his waist and clasped their hands together.

"Hey babe," he said happily and even with his back to them, they could tell he was smiling just from the sound of his voice. Laf stretched onto the tips of their toes to press a long kiss to the top of his head. "Are you gonna get lipstick on me?" he added with a laugh.

"Mm, I would if I'd put some on. We're going to the beach mamour, I'd rather not have it all washed off," Laf said with a teasing bump of their head against his.

Herc put the napkins he had been holding down on the counter and twisted around in their embrace to face them. "I see, well I guess it's fair of you to not want to dazzle us all too much with your beauty. You'd just knock everyone dead." The joking words were belied by an earnest tone and admiring gaze down the expanse of their dress.

"Someone's overly proud of his own work," Laf said with a teasing grin, playing with the embroidery at the hem.

"Well, if I'm gonna admire something I did…"Herc lowered his voice and ran his fingers along their collarbone. They couldn’t help but blush, knowing that both of them were thinking of the marks left by the thorough trail of kisses there from earlier.

While they knew the flush in their cheeks betrayed their emotions, Laf confidently tossed their head and tried to exude calm. "Unfortunately there's no time for an encore before we leave, mon amoreaux." They let their hand brush over his chest and enjoyed the catch of his breath. "You'd best hurry in getting ready, hmm?"

"Oh, says the person who distracted me with their beauty," he grumbled with an exaggerated roll of the eyes and feigned pout of the lips. Laf leaned in to kiss him, but stopped to just rest their forehead against his.

"I'll give you one kiss before we leave," they offered.

He smiled a little but shook his head. "Please, you'd just leave me wanting-slash-needing more and that'd make the drive to the beach less fun."

"Well, what other way is there to kiss?" they teased as he turned back to the counter.

~~~

Herc had an absolutely beautiful smile, a little bit crooked but all the more perfect for it. Laf loved the way his eyes crinkled, and the faint dimple in his left cheek. They had to struggle to tear their gaze away from his face long enough to focus on the sight of the ocean in the distance that was making him smile like this.

While Laf had grown up going to the beach, living in a country with "coast" literally in its English name, Herc hadn't had the opportunity to go swimming somewhere other than an underfunded public pool until they'd met. The first time they had swum in the ocean together, not even accidentally swallowing saltwater or getting slammed into the sand by incoming waves had been able to remove the grin from Herc's face. Laf was excited every time they went to the beach together because of how they got to re-experience Herc's joy of being there.

Finding a parking spot took far too much time, but Herc's energy didn't fade and before long, they made it to a perfect place on the beach to lay out their towels. Laf made sure that in his eagerness to be close to the ocean, Herc didn't pick somewhere that would be covered in water in just a few hours when the tide came in. They wouldn't put it past him to make a rookie error like that.

Herc grabbed their hand once their arms were empty of the picnic basket and beach chairs. Laf entwined their fingers together and smiled at him brightly. Then, with a laugh in reply, Herc tugged sharply on their arm and took off in a run towards the shoreline. Laf, surprised, struggled to keep up at first. However, once they got steadier on their feet, they easily kept pace with Herc.

Both of them were laughing as they kicked up sand and then once the sea foam splashed their feet. Laf kept running into the surf, but Herc stayed at the edge, the water not even halfway up his calves. When Laf turned back to see him, he was standing with his eyes closed and face lifted towards the sun. They doubled back to take his hand again.

"Enjoying it?"

Herc nodded, and then brushed some of their hair back. "Are you going to swim in your dress?" he asked, looking them up and down.

Frankly, Laf had forgotten but didn't feel like telling him that. "I guess I got some water on it, hmm?" they said looking down at the now damp skirt.

Herc chuckled. "I'll go back to the chairs with you if you want to leave it there," he offered.

They shook their head. "Thank you mamour, but I'd rather you stay here and enjoy the waves. I don't mind walking alone."

As they headed back towards the chairs, however, Laf became aware of the fact that they weren't fully alone. The beach wasn't particularly crowded yet, but enough that they felt highly self-conscious. Some days, it was easier than others to have the mentality of "fuck you all, I'll be me at whatever cost" but today was not one of those days. The feel of the skirt on their legs made them feel exposed and unsafe, rather than free and themself. Even though the sundress wasn't substantially less revealing than their swimsuit underneath, it still provided a measure of protection in their mind. They were now grateful that they hadn't put on any makeup because what if one of these beachgoers actually had a violent side, ready to be enraged by the sight of their existence? What if-

Laf cut off their train of thought. Several deep breaths. This would get them nowhere. They turned around slowly, fixated their gaze on Herc. Herc.

The sight of him wasn't enough to break them out of their panic; that wasn't going to happen. But it enabled Laf to come up with more positive things along the same line of thinking. Makeup. How good it felt when they applied a layer of foundation so artfully that no stubble showed even at the end of the day. The accomplishment in doing their lipstick just right along the cupids bow. And with the sight of Herc in their line of vision, a smile tugged at their lips when they thought of the times Herc used his steadier hand to help them wipe off just the mascara that had smudged onto their cheek, without marring the perfect amount that was on the lash itself. Even better, when he wore a little eye makeup himself, which would confuse many since he didn't present femininely like Laf did. The sight of jet eyeliner around their boyfriend's eyes tended to make Laf's heart beat faster, and in their opinion proved that men totally should wear makeup more often. Especially given that Herc was in no way gonna be one of those men who was disdainful towards transfeminine people or ignore the differences that presentation played in their lives.

Thinking of Herc helped immensely, and not just the happy thoughts that made their breath catch, but the thoughts of how fiercely he opposed transphobia in any form. How much he supported and protected Lafayette - how utterly he loved them.

With some renewed confidence - not as much as they might hope, but enough - Laf removed their sundress. Hands smoothing the ruched skirt of the bikini bottoms, Laf tried not to feel the need to cover themself. The skirt, while short, kept them from some additional harassment. Laf took another deep breath and fought to think more positively again. Thought about Herc altering this swimsuit too, not just with the skirt but also to make it fit better with the narrowness of their hips. He had worked similarly on the top, as they didn't exactly want to wear breastforms in the ocean to fill it out as it had been designed. Herc's designs were perfect.

They strode back towards the water as quickly as they could, grateful both to be less visible in the water and to be closer to their boyfriend. His arms were already open for them by the time they reached him, and they happily nuzzled his neck as they hugged.

"You okay, babe?" he asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, mostly" Laf managed. They didn't want him thinking anything had happened, that there was someone to chase down and yell at or something. Not when all that really happened was Laf spending too much time inside their own head and naval-gazing; quite literally.

Herc hummed slightly, not sounding unhappy exactly but understanding what was going on and sad for them. His hand went to the small of their back and he rubbed up and down gently. "Want to go somewhere else?"

Laf shook their head. "Let's just swim for a while, okay?" Impulsively, they leaned forward and kissed Herc deeply, not caring who would stare.

When they finally broke away, Herc's beautiful grin was a bit dazed. "Okay."

~~~

Hours later, the sun was casting long golden rays across the waves. Laf sighed happily, lying atop Herc's chest on the sand. They ran a hand along his shoulder lazily, imagining if anything could break this perfect peaceful moment.

When something did startle them out of their reverie, they smiled after the initial alarm. "Herc, hear that music?" It was hardly possible to ignore it, given the clamor of children heading towards the boardwalk. "Ice cream truck."

Herc's eyes brightened. "Oooh, want to buy a cone?"

"I thought you'd never ask," they teased, getting to their feet and extending a hand to pull Herc up as well.

Herc began to pat his pockets, then bent down to his bag, but Laf stopped him. "My treat," they said with a gesture to their own bag. Herc smiled and shrugged.

"All right, do you want to pack up all of this to go back to the parking lot though?" Laf agreed and they got ready to head to the car and leave.

Hands entwined again, they walked over to the ice cream truck and waited in line. Laf pointedly looked only at Herc, not wanting to turn around and see the disapproval from all of the soccer moms.

Laf easily chose the strawberry cone that they wanted, but Herc spent a little too long in their opinion deciding between the rainbow popsicle and the Tweety Bird shaped one.

As they walked away, Laf couldn’t help but tease him. "What, the ice cream you wanted was that critical of a decision? I would've bought you both you know."

"We already ate!" he laughed. "And besides I'm fine with this one. I guess fewer potential innuendos though, than the rainbow one. Super gay."

Laf snorted. "Wow, babe. You would. Why am I even surprised?"

"Well, I don't know, why are you?" Herc said, settling back onto the hood of the car. "Actually, I bet I could come up with good innuendo for this one too. I mean, a Tweety Bird popsicle? There's something waiting to happen there."

Laf couldn’t help but roll their eyes. "I wouldn't put it past you, but how about you don’t?"

Dramatically, he gasped and held his hand over his heart. "I can't believe it. I feel so betrayed. Who are you and what have you done with my lovefriend? They love innuendo!"

"Of course I love innuendo," Laf couldn’t help but smile as they said. They placed one hand on the hood beside Herc, leaning forward to brush their foreheads together. "I just think that Tweety Bird, of all things, isn't the best material for you to work with. You tend to have it come out wrong, mamour. Remember how you mixed metaphors with that horse thing and Alex actually thought you were straight for a while?"

"Don’t remind me of that!" Herc said with a mock groan. "Can you imagine? God forbid, me as a heterosexual."

They cracked up, and when they had managed to slow their laughter, Laf shook their head. "No, never. You, my love, are far too gay." They leaned forward and gently kissed his nose.

Herc crinkled it. "No, you're going to get melted ice cream juice on my face!"

"Ice cream juice?!" they laughed again. "Wow. What is that, even?"

"Don't you dare lick my face or something in spite," Herc warned them. "And before you feel tempted…" He trailed off and pressed a few kisses to their forehead.

"Hypocrite! I can't kiss your face because of the potential stickiness from the ice cream? And now you're all over my face?" Laf teased to cover up how his kisses were making them feel like they were on cloud nine.

Herc didn't reply, and instead just rubbed his nose against theirs. He then drew them close into an embrace and wrapped his arms around them. Laf let the teasing argument slip away, and just relaxed against them. They gently cupped his face and ran their fingers along his cheek. "Can I kiss you now?"

With another wide smile, Herc nodded. "Definitely," and with that whisper they both leaned in at the same time. As his hand rested on the nape of their neck and they deepened the kiss, Herc broke away for a moment. He kissed Laf's nose again just like they had to him before.

"I love you, you know that?" he whispered.

Laf beamed. "Hmm I think I might've heard something like that from you before," they whispered coyly in response as they kissed along his jaw.

"Yeah, I'm not the best at keeping that secret, huh?"

"Nope. And guess what?" Herc didn't reply verbally, but pulled them a little closer, so they couldn't help but sit down in his lap. They laughed softly and moved their legs to straddle his. "I love you too."

Herc grinned, and Laf wondered if he'd just been in the sun too much or if he was blushing now. They wanted to lean forward to kiss him again, but before they could he gently kissed their nose again. They wrinkled their nose to spite him.

"Gayyyy," they whispered.

He laughed loudly and pulled them into a kiss again. "Yep, very gay for you, babe."


End file.
